 |
|
|
|
 |
| Excerpt from INNER CITY BLUES |
 |
Pulling up to Parker Center that Saturday afternoon
with Louise reminded me of just how tired I was.
The building looked worn out, too. A vintage design, the
LAPD's headquarters was named after William H. Parker, the
legendary chief of police who modernized the force to become
the widely respected and imitated organization it was pre-Rodney
King. It was Parker, Uncle Henry told me, who came up with
the idea of the "thin blue line" of LAPD officers standing
between civilized society and the scum and vermin Angelenos
were led to believe would overrun the city. It was a lot
easier to hold the line in the Communist-obsessed fifties,
but as time went on there were some noticeable cracks in
the LAPD-drawn blue demarcation line between them and us,
cracks that threatened to split the city apart as dramatically
as the San Andreas Fault.
If you would like to read more of INNER CITY BLUES check
it out in the Books
page. Information on the LAPD, Parker Center, and Chief
William Parker can be found at the LAPD's official
web site. |
|
|
|